Air-brake apparatus



AIR BRAKE APPARATUS.

APPLICATIGN FILED DEC.'22, 19H5- RENEWED APL-22| 1919.

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ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 5, 1919@k Z. RIDDLE AND N. F. WILKINS..

Am BRAKE APPARATUS. 'l APPLlcATloN min ngc, 22. 191s. RENEwEu AP'R.'22, 1 919.

Patented Aug. 5, 1919.

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Air-Brake Apparatus,

.UNITED STATES PATENT onirica,l

ZALA RIDDLE AND NORMAN F. WILKINS, OF DUN SMUIR, CALIFORNIA.

Application filed December 22, 1916, Serial No. 138.460. Renewed April 22, 1919.

To all fie/ioni. it may concern Be it known that we, ZaLx RinnLn and NORMAN F. VILKIxs, citizens of the United States, residing at Dunsmuir, in the county of Siskiyou and State of California,A have invented new and useful Improvements in of 'which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in air' brake apparatus, and has particular application to means for varying the pressure in the brake cylinder.

In carrying out the present invention, it is our purpose to provide means whereby vthe. pressure in the brake `cylinder may be varied in accordance with the load on the' car so that the brake may be applied to the' Wheels under a pressure commensurate with the load on the car.

It is also our purpose to provide means of the class described which will be in open communication with the brake cylinder and adjustable to vary the pressure in the cylin der, and which will en'ibody comparativel)v 'few parts and these so arranged and correlated. as to reduce the possibility of derangement to a minimum.

With the above and other objects in view. the invention consists in the construction, combination, and arrangement of parts hereinafter set forth and falling within the scope lof the claims.

In the accon'ipanying drawings Figure i ts a top plan view of a brake cylinder and auxiliary reservoir, showing our invention applied thereto.

v Fig. 2 isA a horizont-al sectional view through the same. j

`Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view through the piston rod and guide therefor.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line Jf-l of Fig. 1,' the parts being shown `in elevation.

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view through the crank box. I

Fig. 6 is a similar view taken at right angles to Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a detail enlarged sectional view approximately on the line 7 -7 ofFig. 1.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view ,approximately on the line 8--8 of Fig. 4.

Referring now to the drawingsl in detail. 1 designates a brake cylinder while 2 indicates an auxiliary reservoir connected with Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Allg. 5,1919.

Serial No. 291,953.

adjacent to the brake cylinder 1 is a cylinder 3 'in which is mounted a piston 1 equipped vwith a piston rod 5 extending outwardly through one threaded for the cylinder 23 remote from the 4piston rod 5 in open communication with the brake.

-a pipe o. the cylint-herefrom, is a strip 1() having` a linear scale 11 inscribed thereon. and fixed to the outer end ot' the rod 5 and cooperating with the scale 11 vis a pointer'12. The guide bloc-k7 is formed with an opening 13 and surrounding the rod 3 is a threaded collar 14 working within the opening 13 and having one edge formed with bevel teeth 15.A 16 designates a crank box disposed at one side of the guide block i' and journaled in one wall of the box and in a bearing bracket 17 carried bythe guide block 7 is a Shaft 18. Fixed upon one end of the shaft `18.is a. bevel pinion 19 meshing with the bevel teeth 15 on the collar 14. The other end of the shaft 18 extends through the` crank box 16 and is equipped with an arm 2() arranged at right angles to the shaft and having 'the outer end thereof formed with au opening 21. Secured to the inner side of the rear wall of the crank box is an annulus arranged concentrically of the shaft 18 and formed with openings 23 spaced apart equal dis-. tances around the annulus. Mounted in the opening Q1 in the arm 20 is a rod 24 having tlu` inner end thereof formed with a yhead and surrounding the rod 2l between the head and the arm '2O is a coiled expansion spring 26 acting to force. the head 25 against the annulus 22 to engage the adjacent opening Q?, so that the shaft 18 will be. held against movement. Theouter side. of the crank box 15 is provided with a hinged cover 27 adapted to be locked in closed posin tion and capable of movement to open position. y

ln practice. when the piston 4 is at the end of the cylinder 3 remote from the end through which the piston rod projects, the

end ofthe cylinder and screw its entire length. The end of4 air in the brake cylinder is prevented from flowing into the cylinder 3, thereby enabling such air to exert the maximum pressure upon the piston in the brakofcylinder so as to apply the brakes to the wheels with the maximum force.l lVhen, however, it is desired to change the pressure of the air on the piston in the brake cylinder. the rod 21 is pulled outwardly against. the action of the spring 26, thereby forming a crank handle for lthe shaft 18. The shaft may now be rotated to revolve the collar l-l. and as the collar is rotated on the piston rod, the latter is moved longitudinally to draw the piston away from the end of the cylinder 3 connectedl with vthe brake cylinder. thereby increasing the space for the air let into the brake cylinder so that less pressure will be exerted upon the piston in the brake cyl-v inder. Tlie pointer 1:2 on the outer end of the piston rod and the scale over which the pointer movable cooperate to indicate the position ofthe piston in the cylinder 3, so that more or less space ma `v be provided for the expansion of the air in the brake cylinder. After the piston has been moved to the 'desired position, the rod 24 is released and the spring 26 reacts to move the head into engagement with t-he adjacent opening :23 in the annulus QQ thereby holdthe parts in adjusted po .ition.

ing rom the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be seen that we have provided means whereby the air may be permitted to act` upon the pistonin the brake cylinder with moreor less pressure according to the loadonthe car. 'hile we have herein shown and described the preferred form of our invention by way of illustration. we wish it to be understood that we do not limit or confine ourselves to the precise details ot' construction herein described and delineated` as modification and variation may be made within the scope ot' the claims and without departing from thespi'rit ot the invention.

We claim:--

1. The combination with a braltecylinder, of a second cylinder connected with said brake cylinder and in open communication therewith, a piston in said second cylinder, a piston rod connectedto said piston and projecting outwardlyv through one end of the -second cylinder, a sleeve threaded onto said piston rod and rotatable thereon to lslide the piston rod longitudinally to change the position of the piston in the cylinder whereby the space for the expansion of the air in the brake cylinder may be increased or decreased, and manually operable means for rotating said sleeve.

2. The combination with a brake cylinder, of a second cylinder connected with said brake cylinder and in open communication therewith, a piston in said second cylinder, a piston rod connected to said piston and vprojecting outwardly through one end of the second cylinder, a sleeve threaded onto said piston rod and rotatable thereon to slide the piston rod longitudinally to change the position of the piston in the cylinder whereby the space for the expansion ot the air in the brake cylinder may be increased or decreased. l manually operable means t'or rotating said sleeve. and a casing inclosing said manually operable means.

3. The combination with a brake cylindcr` ot' a second cylinder connected with said brake cylinder and in open communication therewith. a piston in said second cylinder. a piston rod connected to said pis- .ton and projecting outwardly through one end ot'the second cyl-inder. asleeve threaded onto said piston rod and rotatable thereon to slide the piston rod longitudinally to change the position of the piston in the cylinder wherebyl the space for the expansion 'ot' the an' 1n the brake cylinder may be 1ncreased or decreased. manually operable means for rotating said sleeve. and means lsociated with said piston rod for indicating the position ot the piston in said cylinder.

ln testimony whereof we atlix our signatures. n

ZA`.IJ\ NORMAN F. WILKINS. 

